1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image formation system configured to form images on printing sheets or the like, and also relates to a method therefor and a computer program which causes the computer, when executed thereby, to function as the image formation system.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, an image formation system including a printer for printing images on printing sheets and a computer (e.g., a personal computer, which will be referred to as a PC hereinafter), which are interconnected through a network (e.g., the Internet) has been known. The computer is for controlling the printer, and typically provided with a storage device storing programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) temporarily storing data, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing processes in accordance with the programs.
In such an image formation system, in order to control an image formation by the printer, a printer driver, which is a control program for the printer, should be installed in the PC. Typically, such a device driver is installed in the PC by executing an installation program.
The installation program is generally included in a installer which also includes the device driver. Specifically, the installer is a group of programs including a driver configuration file which is a main part of the device driver, an initial setting file including a plurality of pieces of data necessary for image formation, and the installation program. The installer is supplied to users in the form of a recording medium (e.g., a CD-ROM) or via a network. By executing the installer in the PC which is to use the image formation device, the driver is installed in the PC.
The installer may be created by an administrator of the printer or the network such that the initial setting file includes a restriction setting which restricts, for example, a color image formation depending on a user of the image formation system. When the device driver is installed in the PC using such an installer, the color image formation by the printer under control of the PC is restricted depending on the user of the PC. An example of such a configuration is described in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. P2005-301613A (hereinafter, referred to as '613 publication).
According to the image formation system disclosed in '613 publication, if the user uses a PC, in which the device driver is installed using the installer created by the administrator (specifically, the initial setting file includes the setting made by the administrator is installed), the image formation is executed in accordance with the setting in accordance with the administrator's intension.
According to '613 publication, however, when an image formation is executed with the PC in which the device driver is installed using the installation program created by the administrator, if a general user (i.e., not the administrator) inputs a password, the restriction set by the administrator can be released, and an initial setting file in which the restriction is withdrawn can be used as a new initial setting file at any time.
That is, once the restriction is released, any user can execute the image formation using the new initial setting file, in which the restriction is released. Therefore, according to the configuration disclosed in '613 publication, the image formation system may not be used in accordance with the administrator's intension. That is, even if the administrator sets a limitation to suppress the consumption of color toner and/or printing sheet, the consumption may not be sufficiently suppressed since the initial setting file can be modified such that the restriction is released.